


The Mirror

by ADaughterOfColdharbour



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 07:18:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6972523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADaughterOfColdharbour/pseuds/ADaughterOfColdharbour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angela comforts Genji when she finds him unable to stand his reflection.<br/>Mercy/Genji. Oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mirror

A loud crash startled Angela from her writing. She let out a shocked gasp, banging her knee on her desk and the jolt caused her hand to go flying from the page, a stark black line coming from the cross of the _T_ and going off the page. She furrowed her brows, shaking her head before putting down her pen, wondering what on earth that racket could have been.

Rubbing at her sore knee, she pushed away from her desk and stood from the leather chair. Stretching out her muscles, Angela crossed around the desk and over to the open door of her office, stepping out into the quiet hallway.

There werent many people around the private Overwatch facility in Zurich, and whilst the quiet was usually something she enjoyed -it allowed her peace to research and write and study and read, and also to play her favourite music, singing along to the fine notes of German classics- it seemed almost ... ominous, as she tentatively crept down the starkly white hall, peeking in to the open doors as she went. They were all empty and silent, save for the general area where the television was playing the news.

The setting sun was shining out its last rays from the window across from her, and Angela knew that if she looked out she would see Lena or Aleksandra training on the grounds outside. Shaking her head, Angela continued on down the hallway.

She could hear a voice coming from a room in the hall to her right, and she turned at the corner to see a light falling through a half-open door. Swallowing thickly, Angela walked slowly towards it, small hands reaching out to push it open further.

Inside she saw Genji, and her hand went to her mouth in surprise. There were shards of glass littered around him, remnants of a mirror hanging from the wall, now shattered, with lines of cracks againt the glass still holding, roving in dark waves like the webs of a spider. Genji stood, breathing heavily, his back turned to ruined mirror. His head was turned slightly to the door, and Angela could feel him watching her.

"Genji, meine güte; are you alright? Here, come away from the glass - I'll go fetch a broom -" She had taken a small step towards him, hand out as if to reach for him, her doctor's instincts going immediately to comfort and aid him. Knowing, of course, that the broken glass could do practically nothing against him, she turned back to the door, intending to find something to help clean it up, when she felt something grab her forearm.

She looked back into the face of Genji, who had silently walked up behind her. He dropped his hand from her almost immediately, and Angela looked up at him with questions in her eyes.

"I apologize for breaking the mirror, Doctor Ziegler. I - I could not stand to see what was reflected," he admitted, looking away and speaking as if ashamed. Angela furrowed her brows, and felt a pang beneath her breast. Ever since he had awoken from the surgery she had directed, he had had a ... difficult time adjusting to his new body. He had confided in her that he didnt know if he had a heart, a soul anymore; if he was naught but wires and bolts and machine.

It tore at her heart, and Angela reached out once more, slowly; so, so slowly, and tucked her palm against his cheek. With a gentle pressure she turned his face to look at her, and gave him a small smile. "How many times have I told you to call me Angela?" She teased quietly, before sobering her expression.

"I cannot ever truly understand how you feel, Genji; but I wish you to know that while you look different, the same heart beats that did before. My words may be empty because I do not know, not really, what it is like ... But I wish that, with time, you will come to see yourself -" at this, she gestured at the shattered remnants of glass, "- as I do."

Genji looked down at her, studying her. She felt a trickle of nerves in her stomach; had she offended him? Were her words not enough to comfort him? Angela swallowed thickly and dropped her eyes, pulling her hand away from his face.

He stopped her; his own hand -it was very warm, she noted; like holding a stone that had been laying in the sun- coming up to cover hers. Her cerulean eyes shot back to his visor, searching there in the vain hope to see his gaze behind it. Not a word was spoken, but there was an exchange behind the look they shared, and Genji moved to hold her wrist, gently pulling her hand away to instead hold it in front of his face, looking as his larger hand dwarfed hers.

"And, what is it," he began quietly, his voice husky and low, "that you see?"

Angela's breath caught in her throat, and she felt her heart begin to pound. She took a deep breath, looking down at their intertwined fingers, a warm flush heating her cheeks, before she replied.

"I see a man who has had so much torn from him. Who has seen and done and felt things most people can only imagine. I see a man who is at war with himself. I look at you and I see redemption, and hope for the future." Her voice had quieted to a whisper, the smallest smile gracing her lips, and looked up to his face once more. "And I see someone I care about. Very deeply."

Genji sucked in a quiet breath, and looked down at Angela with such an intensity she almost turned away. He dropped her hand, then, and she could feel the sharp burning of disappointment and hurt coil in her stomach like a vise. She was about to step back, an apology bubbling to her lips, but Genji silenced her when he rasied his hands to his face, beginning to remove his visor.

Angela watched in confusion, heart pounding away as he bore his face to her. She had seen him without it, of course; during and after the operation, and she was certain she was the only one who had seen more of him than he had. Biting the inside of her lip, she waited patiently for Genji to remove the visor completely.

When he did, she smiled, although he immediately turned his head away. She could see the angular line of his cheekbones, his dark and narrow eyes staring at the wall, as if afraid to meet her gaze. Angela's smile widened despite herself, and once more reached up to touch his cheek. This time, however, flesh met flesh, and she could feel the rough texture of his scars beneath her fingers. She took a step closer to him, and ran her fingers softly along his cheek, and down over his jaw.

"I see someone who has more strength than he knows, and someone who will come away from any and all his doubts the better for it," she whispered, and leaned up on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

The visor hit the hardwood floor with a sharp crack, causing Angela to startle. Genji's hands were on her waist, then, pulling her closer. His fingers dug into her flesh, and she gasped, eyes wide as she caught Genji's gaze. He looked down at her, eyes boring into hers, watching her as though she was the most precious thing in the world, held softly in his hands.

Angela whispered his name like a prayer, before his mouth came down to cover hers.


End file.
